Of Niche Immersion and Wire Frames

There aren't currently any new tasks, so I have been immersing myself in my niche. I'm using Evernote to put together a swipe file of site design "do's" that I'd like to incorporate into our site.

Here's a good blog post on how make and use a swipe file for inspiration during website planning: http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/06/02/swipe-file-for-inspiration/ .

So I've been visiting sites and making note of things that I like (like the design, like the navigation categories, like the search feature, this one is along the lines of what I'd like to do with a different focus...). I keep in my Evernote file a screen capture, the URL, and notes about what I liked.

Then I also keep a Google spreadsheet with extra notes about sites, and have sorted my keyword intent spreadsheet to narrow down categories. This is all giving me a clearer idea of how I want the site to develop.

The clearer a vision you have of what you want from your site, the more information you can provide designers who will code the site. I'm in general not a visual person, so spreadsheets actually help my creativity.

Jeremy is coding a WireFrame Wizard, and for very good reasons. It's not ready yet, so I am using this time to get a clear picture of my niche and what I want for our site. A long cry from some thin affiliate sites I put up in 2004 or so in about 4 hours from domain registration to full site up on the web. Hopefully with longer term success, too!